It's too easy to get stuck in a loop of anger, resentment, fear and defeat by an autoimmune condition. Many of us are done with that and want to jettison to another place of thinking and doing. What if our autoimmune conditions were beacons to a new understanding of life? Getting the best from your autoimmune condition takes time. Here you will find resources, support and passion to help you transform yourself, your life.

What’s Old is New

What’s Old is New

Saturday is my birthday. I love having a birthday. It’s always been a chance to be super happy to be alive. Even when I was a little kid, my parents made a point of celebrating the day I joined the family. I remember glimpses of my third birthday (the photos help), when they dressed me in a pinafore and my patent leather shoes, and sat me down at the head of the kitchen table. This was confusing to a three-year old’s mind, not even close to our routine, but all the same I loved the excitement. Then they presented me with an angel food cake, which I learned later was my mom’s favorite. It became my favorite too. The next day we were back to normal, all of us belonging on team family. But now I understood, it’s more than OK, it’s good to celebrate me.

A present to me for my birthday this year is a brand new kitchen. We took out a wall and extended the counter space, put in all new cabinets and appliances and a beautiful enamel, cast iron, under-the-counter sink. I spend most of my day in the kitchen cooking and preparing meals on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, http://scdlifestyle.com/ and this new kitchen has been a tremendous gift. In my old kitchen, a galley type walk through, everything could be stored neatly, but there never was enough counter space. The counter top and cabinets were beat up after 21 years of use, but my old, white enamel, cast iron sink remained shiny and smooth. It was like the sink I grew up with, and I honored it as such. I never used scouring pads or bleach and powders that could scratch the finish. I used ground up cherry pits from Shakley Products and a blue course sponge. This cleaned and shined the surface impeccably, even after my afternoons of pealing carrots and beets, both of which can stain. I hated to get rid of my old sink, but it was an over the counter insert. I really wanted granite counters with an under-mount sink, as deep as a farm house sink, but not so costly. I think you women know what I’m talking about.

When my new kitchen was done, we enjoyed giggling with our friends at how much bigger the kitchen looked. One friend was a young Realtor in the area. He said his mother had recently moved from out of state and in with his family while they updated a house for her. He inspected my new sink, said it was very nice, and then turned to me. He said he’d run into our builder one afternoon while our kitchen was being built. “I hope you don’t mind, ” he said, “but your old sink was in the back of his pick up, and looking very good, so I asked to take it for my mom’s house.”

I almost cried. I could not believe the magic of it. All those years of caring for that sink and now his mother would wash her food, and clean her dishes in it. That sink was going to give her good use and maybe pleasure, as it had me. Wow. The wonder of how it all works.

Old is new, my old sink is now a new sink, and you and me, we are becoming new, daily. All of us who search for, or are in a healing protocol for our autoimmunity can expect such miracles in our bodies as old cells are replaced by new ones. This is the way we’re made. With help from our functional and integrative medicine doctors, we can identify what is not working in our cell regeneration process, and provide supplements and foods that help our systems work again. For example, if you go to Solving Leaky Gut website http://solvingleakygut.com/, you will learn what you can do for yourselves at home to help your body heal. There’s an SLG Facebook support group to encourage staying with the protocol and learning ways to adapt it for your needs. There are also many resources for healing the mind/body connection on-line. Carol Tuttle http://thecarolblog.com/eft-tappingand-spirituality-examiner-interview-carol-tuttle/ taught me about clearing blocked emotional energy, opening up pathways for healing my thinking, my body, and my spirit. Another great resource is Nick Ortner of The Tapping Solution, who helps people use EFT while releasing hidden beliefs and replacing them with affirmations. http://www.thetappingsolution.com/. One more very powerful energy healer is Kenji Kumara who heals emotional and physical disconnections through guided meditation. https://kenjikumara.com/kenjis-thoughts/.

In spite of so many options on-line, you might be reluctant to trust anyone on the internet to help you, even if you are feeling particularly good about someone you’ve found. Spending money on an on-line program seems so risky. You might have thoughts like, “What if this is a scam?” “What if I already know everything this person is offering?” or “What if it doesn’t work for me?” The best of them always offer a money back guarantee lasting through a minimum of one month usage. If the program’s not working for you, get your money back. But beyond that, I’ve found my mind still goes a little crazy thinking about the risk I’m taking. In this process I have learned one important thing; I can not move forward in my healing process on my own. I need direction. The first thing I needed – and found on the internet – was my naturopathic doctor, Dr. Daniel Block http://thenatpath.com/uncategorized/dr-moshe-daniel-block-nd-hmc/, who helped me with counseling and homeopathic remedies. I needed to try new possibilities for healing myself. I still need to hear what other people have found beneficial in their healing process. And I need to be grateful when I find something that is good for me right now.

I often wait before committing to any online program or protocol, just to see if it still seems attractive to me. I wait to see if I have a genuine feeling of promise, not a guarantee, but a possibility for me. This is a very intuitive process and it helps to trust your own intuition. My experience is to wait and then, in a day or two, check back in with the program’s offer. If the opportunity of the program still feels good and I have any joy or anticipation in finding out what’s next for me, I trust what is presenting to me and what I am experiencing in that moment, and go for it. When I sign up, I am prepared to be wide open to the program, without reservation or doubt, and to finish the program. How do I know what will work for me unless I actually do it? Filtering everything through my past, known experience will only keep me stuck in the past. And for me, I had no healing before I was willing to break free of all I had known before.

The Buddhists say to try something new, anything new, to break out of the mind’s habitual expectations and predictions. Break out of what you already know and do. Self healing is new territory for all of us. Doctors have already tried healing you with what they know, and if that’s not enough for you it’s not their fault you still feel miserable. You can take responsibility for your health. Find a doctor who supports you in this mindset of personal accountability and go forward with it. Use all resources available to you. Research a new form of exercise, choices in eating, mind/body healing, energy healing, your sleeping and daily routines. Try new things and practice them and give them time to find if they work. Ask yourself, do you feel better after doing them? Are they nurturing you?

We all need mentors to help us along our way. Even after most of our symptoms are healed, we never outgrow our need to be in the company of others who walk a similar path. If you catch yourself closing off possibility, you are on your way to shutting down your body, your mind, and your spirit. God and all Divine Energy in His command are aligned to guide you in realizing and understanding who you are and your purpose. And it has nothing to do with being miserable, or even getting by. You are here to thrive in health, abundance, and joy. Your highest self knows this to be true. Trusting your highest self-will take you where you want to go. Just know that nothing will change unless you are willing to take a step forward, scary as it may look. Trust that you are not alone and take a step forward. Your old you is aching to become new. Take one step.